It is an object of exemplary versions of the invention to provide an apparatus and a method for monitoring a progression of ventricular conduction disorders such as the left bundle branch block (LBBB) and the right bundle branch block (RBBB).
There is no existing solution on continuous monitoring of the progression of LBBB/RBBB.
LBBB and RBBB are mainly diagnosed based on examination of the QRS morphology in surface ECG.
Implantable pacemakers and defibrillators traditionally measure the conduction time from atrial event (paced or sensed) to (sensed) ventricular event.
Continuous evaluation of QRS morphology for monitoring the progression of LBBB/RBBB is technically challenging, and there is no established method to quantify the QRS morphology variation as an indicator of ventricular conduction abnormality.
The atrium-ventricle conduction time measured by traditional implantable devices is the lumped sum of atrial conduction time, AV nodal conduction time, and the ventricular conduction time. Therefore, it is difficult to isolate the ventricular conduction time and analyze its change over time.